Taranaki Dairy Farm wins Ahuwhenua Trophy

MEDIA RELEASE - 13 June 2014

A Taranaki Māori Trust Te Rua o Te Moko Ltd has won the prestigious Ahuwhenua Trophy BNZ Māori Excellence in Farming Award for Dairy.

The Minister of Māori Affairs, the Hon Dr Pita Sharples made the announcement at a special awards evening held in Tauranga tonight attended by more than 850 people including the Governor General, Sir Jerry Mateparae, the Minister for Primary Industries, Hon Nathan Guy and other leading dignitaries.

The trophy was presented to the Chairman of Te Rua o Te Moko Ltd, Dion Maaka by Sir Jerry Mateparae. Mr Maaka was also presented with a replica of the trophy by Hon Nathan Guy and received the winner's medal from the Chief Executive of the Bank of New Zealand, Anthony Healy. The Trust also receives about $40,000 in prizes donated by sponsors.

Te Rua o Te Moko Ltd was one of three finalists in the competition, which is held each year. The other finalists were Putauaki Trust – Himiona Farm and Ngāti Awa Farms – Ngakauroa Farm, both of whom are located near the Bay of Plenty town Whakatane.

Te Rua o Te Moko Ltd is situated close to the town of Hawera and runs 500 kiwi cross cows on a 170ha effective milking platform. It is a highly successful operation, which is now into its fifth season and is producing 190,000 kgMS. What is so special about this operation is that it is an amalgam of four separate Māori trusts who have all combined their resources to create an economically and environmentally sustainable dairy operation.

Bringing the blocks together into one large farm marked the beginning of a new era for the 1,100 landowners and has given them an exciting vision for the future. Individually the blocks were too small to be farmed economically, but as a collective unit they are able to provide a much better financial return for their owners. As well as operating as a commercial dairy farm, Te Rua o Te Moko Ltd also runs a training operation for descendants of shareholders that whakapapa back to the land as well as other young people. This is run by Land Based Training and last year saw the first eight young people graduate and then obtain jobs on dairy farms. This year another eight young people are in training.

The Chairman of the Ahuwhenua Trophy Management Committee which runs the awards, Kingi Smiler says Te Rua o Te Moko Ltd was a shining example of how Māori are collaborating with small trusts cooperating to create larger more economically viable enterprises which serve local people and New Zealand better.

"A feature of this year's competition is that all the finalists were an amalgam of smaller entities which had put aside their individual interests for the greater good of a larger whanau. This collaborative approach began 81 years ago when the Minister of Māori Affairs Sir Apirana Ngata encouraged Māori work in this way. Today the collaborative approach is now gaining greater momentum and as we see in this Ahuwhenua Trophy event, resulting in some outstanding achievements," he says.

Kingi Smiler says Māori agribusiness has now become a powerhouse of the New Zealand economy and has truly come of age. He says the proof of that is that every day Māori trusts and incorporations are being besieged by an army of consultants, advisors and investors wanting to be a part of the action. "One of the reasons for this is that trusts such as Te Rua o Te Moko Ltd, the other finalists and a large number of others have lifted their game and have become highly successful multi million dollars businesses. In the early years of the competition the winners were held up as great role models. The modern day finalists and ultimate winners are the same. Today they can benchmark successfully with all farms – not just Māori farms. They are adopting all the technologies that modern day farming has to offer. But they have not compromised their quest for financial gain at the expense of retaining Māori values," he says.

Kingi Smiler says Māori and all New Zealanders have every reason to feel proud and celebrate the success of Māori agribusiness as exemplified in the winners and finalists of this year's Ahuwhenua Trophy BNZ Māori Excellence in Farming Award for Dairy.

BNZ head of agribusiness, John Janssen, says that by amalgamating a smaller land holdings Te Rua o Te Moko is able to drive growth until now only achieved by larger land owners.

"Every year the Ahuwhenua competition highlights and shares innovative farming business practices driving growth in the agribusiness sector, and this year is no exception."

"Amalgamation of landholdings highlights the power of mahitahi to achieve scale and resources needed to reach the next level."

The Ahuwhenua Trophy BNZ Māori Excellence in Farming Award is appreciative of our sponsors who make the competition possible, and would like to thank them for their generous support.

BNZ is the Platinum Sponsor for the Award. Gold sponsors are DairyNZ, Fonterra, the Ministry for Primary Industries, Te Puni Kōkiri and Te Tumu Paeroa. Silver sponsors are AgResearch, Primary ITO, PGG Wrightson and Ballance Agri-Nutrients. Bronze sponsors are Allflex, AFFCO, BDO, Ecolab, LIC, the Federation of Māori Authorities and Polaris. Sponsor support is also supplied by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and Tohu Wines.

CONTACTS FOR THE WINNER

Te Rua o Te Moko Ltd

Governance – Dion Maaka: 027 262 4408, DionM@pkw.co.nz

;
Jamie Tuuta is a back-up: 027 247 2168, jamie.tuuta@tetumupaeroa.co.nz

Farm operations – Rob Gollan, Consultant: 021 431 173;
Aaron Hunt is a back-up: 027 433 7222, aaron.hunt@tetumupaeroa.co.nz

CONTACTS FOR THE OTHER FINALISTS

Putauaki Trust – Himiona Farm

Governance – Tiaki Hunia: 027 489 8946, tiaki.hunia@tetumupaeroa.co.nz

;
John O'Brien is a back-up: 07 323 6400, 027 3939073, john@putauakitrust.com

Farm operations – Peter Livingston, Consultant: 027 449 1078, peter.livingston@agfirst.co.nz

Ngati Awa Farms – Ngakauroa Farm

Governance and farm operations – Enid Ratahi-Pryor: 027 255 0300, Enid@ngatiawa.iwi.nz